Sometimes love can be nasty, right? Dalia, after betraying Sampson in one poem, is trying to justify her actions. She asks: “And what if Love...Caus’d what I did?” To which he answers “Love seeks to have Love” and “But had thy love…Bin, as it ought, sincere, it would have taught thee Far other reasonings, brought forth other deeds.”

Love doesn't breed hate; it doesn't "reason" that way. Forgivness, of course, is a close relative of love. We've all heard the phrase "I will forgive, but never forget" (discussed in my MLK blog). Well, Sampson does exactly that:

“Let me approach at least, to touch they hand,” says Dalia, to which Sampson answers “Not for thy life…my sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint. At distance I forgive thee, go with that.”

Clearly this is not what Martin Luther King had in mind when he described forgiveness—this is the opposite! This also agrees with what Spinoza said about hating someone that you once loved; that it will make you hate them more, treat them worse than if, say, a stranger betrayed you.

Adam learns some things after the Fall, and after an angel talks to him. Adam says that he should love and fear God, be humble, merciful, meek, etc, and keep working for the good. To which the angel replies:

“thou hast attained the sum Of wisdom; hope no higher, though all the Stars Thou knewest by name, and all the ethereal Powers, …And all the riches of this World enjoydst, And all the rule, one Empire; onely add Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add Faith, Add Vertue, Patience, Temperance, add Love, By name to come call’d Charitie, the soul Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath To leave this Paradse, but shall possess A Paradise within thee, happier far.”

In other words, add deeds to your wisdom, and especially love. This is a variation on Paul's "the greatest of these is love"; and when Augustine said that the end of all wisdom, scripture reading, etc. is nothing more than learning how to love, how to embrace charity. Finally, Milton interprets the Holy Spirit as the bringer of the "Law of Faith / Working through Love," which "Upon their hearts shall write..."

Sometimes love can be nasty, right? Dalia, after betraying Sampson in one poem, is trying to justify her actions. She asks: “And what if Love...Caus’d what I did?” To which he answers “Love seeks to have Love” and “But had thy love…Bin, as it ought, sincere, it would have taught thee Far other reasonings, brought forth other deeds.”

Love doesn't breed hate; it doesn't "reason" that way. Forgivness, of course, is a close relative of love. We've all heard the phrase "I will forgive, but never forget" (discussed in my MLK blog). Well, Sampson does exactly that:

“Let me approach at least, to touch they hand,” says Dalia, to which Sampson answers “Not for thy life…my sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint. At distance I forgive thee, go with that.”

Clearly this is not what Martin Luther King had in mind when he described forgiveness—this is the opposite! This also agrees with what Spinoza said about hating someone that you once loved; that it will make you hate them more, treat them worse than if, say, a stranger betrayed you.

Adam learns some things after the Fall, and after an angel talks to him. Adam says that he should love and fear God, be humble, merciful, meek, etc, and keep working for the good. To which the angel replies:

“thou hast attained the sum Of wisdom; hope no higher, though all the Stars Thou knewest by name, and all the ethereal Powers, …And all the riches of this World enjoydst, And all the rule, one Empire; onely add Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add Faith, Add Vertue, Patience, Temperance, add Love, By name to come call’d Charitie, the soul Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath To leave this Paradse, but shall possess A Paradise within thee, happier far.”

In other words, add deeds to your wisdom, and especially love. This is a variation on Paul's "the greatest of these is love"; and when Augustine said that the end of all wisdom, scripture reading, etc. is nothing more than learning how to love, how to embrace charity. Finally, Milton interprets the Holy Spirit as the bringer of the "Law of Faith / Working through Love," which "Upon their hearts shall write..."